When it comes to the movie musical, there are two giants whose presences are inescapable: Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. The impact of these legendary men cannot be overestimated — from movies to TV shows to music videos to commercials, Astaire and Kelly are still influencing pop culture and reaching new audiences every day. However,… Read more »
At twelve noon in Broadway, New York, Harry S. Young, billed the “human fly,” began climbing the side of the Martinique Hotel in 1923. Thousands of people gathered at Greely Square just below the hotel to watch the spectacle, including his wife. After climbing up ten stories Young slipped and fell to his death. The… Read more »
There are many notable similarities between Alfred Hitchcock’s two films Strangers on a Train (1951) and Rope (1948). For example, Hitchcock scholars and film critics have written repeatedly about the doubling of the male relationships — particularly since Farley Granger appears in both films — and the implication that Brandon and Phillip (Rope), Bruno and even Guy… Read more »
If I had to describe The Night of the Hunter (1955) in one word, it would be singular. There is simply no other film like it. It bears traces of influence from several different film movements and belongs to several genres, and it would go on to influence great films and filmmakers. But as a… Read more »
Mae West is often remembered as someone who pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in early Hollywood and American society at large. Not only was she an actress and singer, but she was also a comedian, playwright, and screenwriter. She began her entertainment career as a child and in vaudeville, but her first brush… Read more »
Guest post by Rachel McCabe. When originally released in 1969, Roger Ebert claimed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid “must have looked like a natural on paper, but, alas, the completed film is slow and disappointing.” Paul Newman, the film’s star, had achieved critical success playing the rebel in Cool Hand Luke just two years… Read more »
